Matthew 2:11 — And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Today, January 6th, is the Feast of The Epiphany, the traditional Twelth Night. That makes it the occasion for what is really the last of a set of 2013 Christmas devotions. It marks the visit of the Magi to the child Jesus. They saw His face, and worshipped.
It comes to all of us, that meeting with Jesus. My thought today is about which face we see at that meeting, and how we react to it. I’m pretty sure that the Magi saw a face that radiated God’s glory, and they reacted by worshipping.
I’m reminded of a favorite hymn, written by Helen H. Lemmel in 1922.
O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see? There’s light for a look at the Savior, and life more abundant and free!
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.
Through death into life everlasting He passed, and we follow Him there; O’er us sin no more hath dominion—For more than conqu’rors we are!
His Word shall not fail you—He promised; Believe Him, and all will be well: Then go to a world that is dying, His perfect salvation to tell!
I was told about more than one Jesus in my early life. I was told about a “gentle Jesus meek and mild”. I was told about a great, wise, kindly teacher. I was told about a kind of superman miracle worker. But when I had my meeting with Jesus, which I think I had been avoiding for quite a few years, I didn’t meet a Jesus who looked like any of those. Those faces were always out of focus for me …
It took me a while to make the connection with the “glory and grace” of the hymn.
At first I did not see that the “grace” is not about elegance but about the undeserved mercy, and the glory the glory of Jesus’s perfect holiness that allowed Him to make the ultimate gift.
Once I made the connection between the gifts of the magi, and Jesus’s sacrifice, the face came into focus.
When I met Jesus, the face I saw wasn’t the face of a baby. It wasn’t a face radiating glory either. Nor was it the face of some kindly teacher. The face that I saw was the haunted, beaten face, with blood flowing down from the crown of thorns. Whenever I think of Jesus now, it is the crucified Christ that I see — and it is a wonderful face that I see.